Question about tree box placement - concrete or grass?

[blubberbo]

Will a tree box rot faster if placed on grass (should I put it on concrete)?

 

[DirtMechanic]

Wet rots faster unless it is full of antimicrobial chemistry. We use these little cat statuaries that have flats over the sitting cat tails upon which ledge a pot might find purchase and have that small elevation as need be required for the context of a potted plant.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

That's fancy, DirtMechanic, I would stand it on four brick, or maybe half bricks, it doesn't look big. Something to let the air circulate underneath will help in either situation

 

[DirtMechanic]

That's fancy, DirtMechanic, I would stand it on four brick, or maybe half bricks, it doesn't look big. Something to let the air circulate underneath will help in either situation

My wife is like that. You could never seriously see me buying cat statuary could you? I would go get rocks from the woods because free.

 

[Mr_Yan]

That white poly banding holding the box together will deteriorate in the UV also.


And @DirtMechanic, I expected something classy like old tires.

 

[blubberbo]

That white poly banding holding the box together will deteriorate in the UV also.

Pro tip, thanks @Mr_Yan. Do I need to keep it together using something else?

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I know the places where builders dump small amounts of rubbish, a good source for half bricks, sometimes a whole one. There was a friend of my brothers who was a barrow lender, he knew all such places and visited them for wood and metal with which he built market barrows in a little yard in North London and hired them out.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Pro tip, thanks @Mr_Yan. Do I need to keep it together using something else?

A good spot by Mr Yan, there are plenty of things made uv tolerant, a thin rope, the blue polypropylene package strapping they use on commercial packs. There are metal corners you could use internally as well.

 

[blubberbo]

A good spot by Mr Yan, there are plenty of things made uv tolerant, a thin rope, the blue polypropylene package strapping they use on commercial packs. There are metal corners you could use internally as well.

But case in point, I will need to add something to prevent the box from collapsing , correct?

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I'd go for a corner plate top and bottom, like this https://www.toolstation.com/corner-...IoM2m8GKj8wAIIPLAZBoCnY8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
I don't know what you put it together with, screws will always hold better than nails. If you do use nails angle them against one another so they can't pull out \ / The pull against the screws of a corner plate is at right angles to the screw's length, so well strong. Binding round with something that shape has the risk that it will slip down and come loose unless you tack it to the box.

 

[Mr_Yan]

prevent the box from collapsing

Collapsing is a strong word here. The box will, more or less, stay together until you try to move it, trip over it, or a kid runs into it.

I had a wine/whisky half barrel planter that I used for years. It stayed together until I noticed it was so rotted out that I could put my finger through a stave.

What are your long term thoughts for that tree? Will it be planted into the ground within a year? Will the tree live in that forever and be a bonsai-citrus?

Year or less you don't have to do anything. It's fine as is. Longer than a year, get a container you like the looks of.

And beware that white banding may create some dreaded micro-plastics...

 

[Mr_Yan]

On the other hand...

If you leave the box on the grass you make more maintenance because you have to push the mower around in a weird pattern because of the box. And a string trimmer against that wood will really start to damage and deteriorate that box.

 

[blubberbo]

I don’t really have much experience, but my thought was to keep it in a box for a few years before either planting it in the ground or moving it.